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ABNORMAL
PSYCHOLOGY
RCAP REVIEW CLASS
AUGUST 2014

CLEAR UP THE OBVIOUS:

What is Abnormal Psychology?

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ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
o Branch of Psychology
o Study of individuals with mental,
emotional, and physical pain
o Application of science in the study
of mental disorders
o Study of abnormal behavior

Understanding
Abnormality

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abnormal psychology

NORMAL BEHAVIOR
-socially acceptable behavior
-standard

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CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

A man kissing another man
Is this normal?

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

A man driving a nail through his hand

or cutting wounds on his back

Is this normal?

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CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

A woman refusing to eat for several

days
Is this normal?

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

A man barking like a dog and

crawling on the floor on his hands

and knees
Is this normal?

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CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

A woman building a shrine to her

dead husband in her living room and

leaving foods and gifts for him at the
altar
Is this normal?

abnormal psychology

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CRITERIA FOR
NORMALITY

Normality is
Average
What is accepted
by the majority

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Normality is Social
Conformity
Anyone who conforms to
social norms is normal.

Normality is
Personal Comfort
If a person feels comfort or
pleasure, then it is normal

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ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER 1

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RECOGNIZING ABNORMALITY

Cultural Relativism
the view that there are no
universal standards or rules
for labeling a behavior as
abnormal
behaviors can only be
abnormal relative to cultural
norms

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1. Culture and gender can affect ways how

people express their symptoms.

2. Culture and gender can influence

peoples willingness to admit certain

types of behavior.

1. Culture and gender can influence the

types of treatments deemed acceptable

or helpful for maladaptive behaviors

Unusualness
Behaviors that are
deviant, or unusual,
are considered
abnormal

Do people hate us because we

dress this way or do we dress this
way because people hate us?

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Distress
behaviors should be
considered abnormal
only if the individual
suffers distress and
wishes to be rid of the
behaviors.

Mental
Illness
Behaviors are not
abnormal unless a
part of a mental
illness.

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Dysfunction

Impairment in social,
occupational functioning

Distress

Distress to self or to others

Deviance

Deviant or unusual behaviors

Dangerousness

Potential harm to the individual

or to others

Nolen-Hoeksema,
2011

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Looking at Abnormality
from Past to Present

Biological
Model

Supernatural
Model

Psychological
Model

Similar to
physical disease,
breakdown of
bodily systems

Result of divine
intervention (i.e.
curses, demonic
possession, sin

Result of traumas
(bereavement,
chronic stress)

Restoration of
health

Religious rituals,
exorcism,
confession and
atonement

Rest, relaxation,
change of
environment

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BIOLOGICAL
TRADITION

Hippocrates
Father of modern medicine
He and his associates: Hippocratic
Corpus
Suggested that psychological
disorders can be treated like
other diseases.
Can be caused by brain trauma
or genetics

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Hippocrates
Abnormal behavior had natural causes, not because

of demonological accounts
Four humors
Disease as a unitary concept: no distinction between

mental and physical

All problems are caused by

imbalance in the body

Treatment is aimed at balancing

Galen
Physician, continued on the work of
Hippocrates
Hippocratic-Galenic Approach:
HUMORAL THEORY
Four Humors
Blood
Black Bile
Yellow Bile
Phlegm

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The 19th Century

Syphilis

STD caused by a bacterial microorganism

entering the brain

Behavioral and Cognitive Symptoms include
believing that everyone is plotting against you
or that you are God, as well as other bizarre
behaviors
Cure for syphilis: penicillin

The 19th Century

John P. Grey
Champion of the BT in the US
His position is that the cause of insanity is always
physical
Mentally ill patients are to be treated as though they
are physically ill

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1930s: Electric Shock and Brain Surgery

Effects of such and of drugs are discovered by accident
1950s, the first effective drugs for severe psychotic

disorders were developed in a systematic way

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Consequences of the Biological Tradition

Grey and colleagues reducing interest in treating mental patients
Hospitalization of patients
Places of treatment Focus was on
Diagnosis
Responsibility of patients
Study of brain pathology

Emil Kraepelin
One of the founding fathers of psychiatry

SUPERNATURAL
TRADITION

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DEMONS AND WITCHES

STRESS AND
MELANCHOLY
POSSESSION

MASS HYSTERIA

MOON AND STARS

Demons and Witches

Supernatural causes of psychological
disorders
Work of the devil
Witchcraft
Treatment

Exorcism
Shaving a cross pattern in

the hair
securing sufferers to a wall
near the front of a church

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Stress and Melancholy

Insanity was a natural phenomenon, caused by mental and
emotional stress, and is curable
Communal treatment for the insane
Nicholas Oresme
Adviser to the King of France
Bishop and Philosopher
Melancholy is the source of bizarre behavior not demons

Treatment for Possession

AIDS : divine punishment for homosexuality
Exorcism
Reliable
If not, other methods are used such as beating and confinement

Other approaches
Hanging people over a pit full of poisonous snakes
Dipping on icy water

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Mass Hysteria
Large-scale outbreak of bizarre behavior
Middle ages
they lent support to the notion of possession
Running in the streets, dancing, shout, rave, jump
Saint Vitus Dance and Tarantism
Reaction to insect bites

Moon and Stars

Paracelsus

Rejected possession
Suggested that the movement of the moon

and the stars had an effect on human

behavior
Lunatic

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PSYCHOLOGICAL
TRADITION
abnormal pychology

Plato
causes of maladaptive behavior
Social and cultural influences
Learning that took place in that

environment
Precursor to modern psychosocial

approaches

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Moral Therapy
19th century psychosocial approach to
mental disorders
Moral = emotional or mental
Treating patients as normally as
possible
16th century Asylums

Philippe Pinel, a leader in the moral movement

in France, helped free mental
patients from the horrible conditions of the
hospitals.

Psychoanalytic Theory
Patients were hypnotized
Anton Mesmer

suggested to his patients

that their problem was

caused by an undetectable
fluid found in all living
organisms called animal
magnetism, which could
become blocked

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Psychoanalytic Theory
Jean Charcot

Started the practice

of hypnosis as
treatment modality
Freud and Breuer
Hypnosis Unconscious
Catharsis
Anna O.

Humanistic
Theory
Behavioral
Approaches

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Europe in the Middle Ages: lunatics, idiots

Family, not community responsibility
1600s to 1700s = insane asylums
Change is societal perspective
Early asylums: human warehouses

19th Century: Moral treatment movement

Large institutions led to the development of new

professions such as psychiatry

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Worcester Lunatic Hospital: A Model

Institution
Woodwards ideas about the causes

of disorders represented a
combination of physical and moral
considerations.

The Massachusetts Lunatic Asylum (as it

appeared in 1835) was the first large state
mental institution in the United States.
From the collection of the Worcester
Historical Museum, Worcester,
Massachusetts.

Invention of public mental hospitals: systematic

observation and scientific inquiry

Psychiatry as a professional group
Expanded public concern on solving problems of mental
disorders
Some misguided and nave aspects of 19 th century
psychiatry
Masturbation leads to mental disorders

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Pharmacotherapy
Use of drugs in therapy

Psychotherapy
Problems: Deinstitutionalization

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Deinstitutionalization
Move to integrate patients with their communities: communitybased treatment facilities

COMMUNITY MENTAL
HEALTH CENTER

Team of social workers, therapists and

physicians

HALFWAY HOUSES

Long-term treatment
Structured and supportive environment

DAY TREATMENT
CENTER

Treatment during the day, live at home

during night

CLINICAL AND
COUNSELING
PSYCHOLOGISTS
PSYCHIATRISTS

PhD in Psychology
PsyD

MD
Psychiatry Residency

PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL
WORKER

Masters Degree in Social Work

Specialized Practice in
Psychiatry

PSYCHIATRIC NURSES

Nursing Graduates
Advanced training in psychiatry

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

THERAPISTS

Masters Degree in Counseling

Training

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The Present
Scientific Method
Integrative

Approach
ScientistPractitioner Model

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Pre-Genital Stages in the Psychosexual Stages of

Development (Freud)
ORAL STAGE
Early Phase
Sucking
Oral Incorporative
Character
Late Phase
Biting
Oral Sadistic Character

ANAL STAGE
Early Phase
Excretion
Anal Expulsive Character
Late Phase
Retention
Anal Retentive Character

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Fixation
Caused by over-gratification
Makes the individual not want to leave the stage
Frustration
Cause of fixation
Opposite of over-gratification

PREDISPOSING
FACTORS

PRECIPITATING
FACTORS

A factor that makes

someone prone or
susceptible to a
certain pathology
Remote Effect
does not come out
at an early stage
only when triggered

Factors that trigger

the onset of a certain
disorder
Immediate Effect

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BIOLOGICAL
DETERMINANTS
PSYCHOLOGICAL
DETERMINANTS
SOCIO-CULTURAL
DETERMINANTS

BIOLOGICAL
DETERMINANTS OF
BEHAVIOR
Can be predisposing or

A. GENETIC FACTOR
B. BIOLOGICAL
DEPRIVATION

precipitating factor
C. OBNOXIOUS AGENTS
D. ACCIDENTS
E. BODY
CONSTITUTIONS
F. BIOCHEMICAL
FACTORS

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PSYCHOLOGICAL
DETERMINANTS OF
BEHAVIOR
Can be predisposing or

precipitating factor

A. STRESS

B. FRUSTRATION

C. OVER-USE OF
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
D. PSYCHOLOGICAL
DEPRIVATION

SOCIOCULTURAL
DETERMINANT
S OF
BEHAVIOR

A.
POVERTY/UNEMPLOYME
NT
B. WAR
C. RACIAL
DISCRIMINATION

precipitating

D. RURAL-URBAN
SETTING

factor

RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY

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